Stephen Strasburg, Signing Bonuses & Baseball
Stephen Strasburg waited until the last minute to agree to the 15.6 million dollar offer from the Washington Nationals. This is the first positive sign from baseball as a sport that I have seen this year. What has been plagued by steroid rumors, abnormal signing bonuses and poor moves all around baseball, the Strasburg signing gave me a little hope that things were getting better.
Not only did the Washington Nationals sign Strasburg, but they signed him for a “good” price. Yes, the record bonus amount of 15.6 million was a good price. While sports reporters state that Strasburg is Major League ready and will make an impact next year, it may take a bit longer. Even if it takes 5 years, it’s worth it. Not only for the impact on the team, but for the ticket and merchandise sales for the team, the hope and trust for the fans. I think if they went up to 20 million on the bonus, it would be worth it to show their fans they are willing to make the investment for their team.
A guy like this is worth it. Guys who may not be worth it include the Baltimore Orioles 22nd round pick who got 1 million dollars and the Yankees 44th round pick who got a 500k bonus. The chance that these players become great major league players are slim and the odds are stacked against them. The Orioles told reporters they gave their 22nd round pick 1 million dollars because he “is projectable.” The big “Projectable” reasoning for giving large bonuses is the dumbest thing in baseball. It is basically gambling on a player just because he could be good eventually. Why not wait to see if he projects out, then spend money on him or trade for him if you don’t get him.
There are a ton of guys that aren’t projectable, but are good already, that deserve this kind of money. These are usually college kids that have built their skills and have succeeded against higher levels of talent.
To me the draft is extremely flawed, which is why the Stephen Strasburg signing was a great moment in baseball.
It’s unreal that I’m going to leave a reply to this, but someone sent me the link knowing I have the opposite opinion, so may as well do it. I’m also going to add in some comments about a different post of yours concerning athtletes choices leading to them having no education, money, or career choices post-career.
1) If you think a player in any sport ‘Could’ be a star one day, you have to pay him early, when he’s ‘Projectible.’ If you don’t, and he develops into a stud, you’re going to be competing for him with every other team, and shelling out exponentially more money than a 300k signing bonus. In baseball especially, if it comes to a guaranteed good player, only a few teams even have a chance at getting him because of the financial gap between teams.
2) The player decides when he wants to, ‘Go Pro.’ So it’s not even a choice for the teams in baseball to say, ‘We’d like to see you develop more in college.’ The player makes their choice for them, and the teams have to determine what they want to commit. While 300k-500k bonuses are a lot to the layman, it’s part of the organizations budget to take these chances, just like any other business.
3) I know a few dozen former and current professional athltetes in the Phoenix area, and not one of them thinks that the sport, their teams, or anyone owes them anything post-career. None of them, even the big one’s who have a lifetime’s worth of money, think that when their career is over someone should help them find a way to live and succeed. However… let’s say you are going to go that route; which players should get help? Should someone who never made the Major Leagues get assistance because they never made the big bucks? Should Latrell Spreewell get assistance because he made over $50,000,000 in his career but is now bankrupt in his 40s with no education? The players made the choice to skip school to pursue a dream… and in some cases have to deal with the consequences. If I skipped college to go run a business and I didn’t make it… does that business owner owe me assistance in straightening out my life? People have to deal with the consequences of their actions… and athletes are no exception to this one.
There’s one guarantee in sports, consisting of 3 options:
1) You make it big and live a vacation life
2) You do well, but need to have a 2nd career some day.
3) You don’t make it.
Just like any other job in America, you have to have an auxiliary plan. And for some odd reason, athletes really don’t think this should apply to them. If they don’t make it, they want handouts, financial and educational assistance, and jobs within their organization post-career.
Realism said this on April 5, 2010 at 2:46 PM
What exactly did you mean by “It’s unreal that I’m going to leave a reply to this…”?
I appreciate your input on this subject, but I think you may have taken what I said in a little different direction that what I meant.
I 100% agree with you that baseball is a business, and investing in a player by giving someone with potential a large signing bonus does make sense in many scenarios. However, what I was shedding light on was the fact that many teams blindly throw a lot of money at players that may be projectable, yet show no sign of ever being able to figure out baseball. The media and MLB show the brighter side of these investments by showcasing the young guys that do make it and are worth the investment. However, both MLB and the specific organization will hide the players that were given a ton of money that never pan out in the Majors. These large signing bonuses end up encouraging the organizations to push these kids up the minors and into the Major Leagues, just to prove that they made a good investment. There may be another guy that would be just as good in the Majors, but was not given a signing bonus, and therefore never made the Majors.
As for the other main point you mentioned, I am not exactly sure where you got the notion that I think players that don’t make it should be given some sort of giveaway or charity after they retire. Maybe I didn’t explain myself correctly on one of my posts, and I apologize if I made it seem like that. In no way do I think players should be taken care of by their former organization after they are done. I was merely pointing out the fact that many kids will sign out of high school, play 10-15 years in the minor leagues, then have to start their life at age 30 or so. They have no real world experience, no college education and are fighting uphill from there. I was pointing out there is a negative aspect to professional baseball that the public does not see, and it can ruin the lives of some of these players. I don’t think they should be given a handout from anyone, as it is their decision. I do feel, however, that there should be some program put into place where a minor league kid can get a college education while playing, or have help finding a job in the off-season, or something that will give him real world experience, in case baseball does not work out. Many kids have a false sense of hope and think that baseball will be their profession for their whole life and that’s it.
You have some good points and I appreciate your comments, but I think there is a lot of things that go behind the scenes in minor league baseball that the public is not aware of.
Anonymous said this on April 5, 2010 at 5:46 PM